Bitcoin Giants Compared: How Do ETFs Stack Against Microstrategy?

Here’s how the Bitcoin holdings of Michael Saylor’s Microstrategy stack up against the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other large holders.

Bitcoin Holdings Of Microstrategy & Other Large Holders Compared

In a post on X yesterday, HODL15Capital shared a table that compared the data for the holdings of the various large entities in the Bitcoin sector against each other.

Below is the table that the account posted:

It would appear that as of 6 March 2024, Microstrategy had been ahead of all of the spot ETFs, as well as the other large company holders (like Tesla) and mining firms (like Marathon), featured in this table.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is missing from the table, but the fund that has now been converted into a spot ETF has in fact double the holdings of Microstrategy.

From the table, it’s visible that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin (IBIT) was right behind Microstrategy at the time of the post, as the difference was less than 5,500 BTC between the two holdings.

As per the latest data for 7 March 2024, BlackRock’s ETF has observed more inflows since then. The below table from the same X account has made estimations for the BTC value of these USD-denominated inflows.

The iShares Bitcoin ETF now holds around 191,131 BTC. This value, however, is still less than Microstrategy’s 193,000 BTC, so the standings remain the same. Given the relatively small difference left now, however, it may not be long before the former overtakes the latter.

That said, Michael Saylor’s company is also planning to acquire more Bitcoin soon, so it’s possible that the two may continue to flip each other for a while longer.

Microstrategy has taken a few years to amass its current BTC holdings, but BlackRock’s ETF was only approved a couple of months back and its holdings are already matching the well-known HODLer in the BTC industry.

While it sounds impressive, something to consider here is that the holdings of both these entities represent different things. For iShares, the holdings simply represent a fund that BlackRock has acquired to provide investors with exposure to the cryptocurrency.

As such, BlackRock doesn’t exactly own this Bitcoin or has bought it for the purpose of investing into it. Microstrategy is different, however, as it has leveraged its cash flows and balance sheet to buy the BTC, with the view of holding for the long-term.

What the inflows into iShares and other ETFs do show, though, is the demand entering into Bitcoin right now from the traditional side of the market, and it’s clearly been quite sizeable so far.

BTC Price

Bitcoin has mostly recovered from its crash earlier, as it’s now trading around $67,600, but the asset is yet to completely retrace back to its newly set all-time high.